


The Plague Girl

by froggle



Category: Ghosts (TV 2019)
Genre: Family Fluff, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Trans Pat Butcher (Ghosts TV 2019), but trans pat is only slightly hinted at, god i am so . god, ig?????, jemima needs so much more love!!!!!!!, patcap adopt jemima, thatse it. i cannot change this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:54:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28548951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggle/pseuds/froggle
Summary: The Captain and Pat comfort Jemima.
Relationships: Pat Butcher/The Captain (Ghosts TV 2019)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 73





	The Plague Girl

Pat woke up. He yawned and half expected Carol to be beside him and Daley to rush into his bedroom. He still wasn’t fully used to not having to get breakfast ready for his wife and son, rushing down the old creaky stairs to get bread in the toaster. His small terraced house would be alive with energy as Daley got ready for school and Carol for the bowls club. 

But Pat was in old Button House, the sun piercing through a gap in the curtains and giving the room a warm glow. He stretched his arms and sighed. He would normally start to stroll around the grounds as far as he could, as it gave him some peace, but something stopped him. A noise he hadn’t heard before caught his attention. It was unsettling at first but became sad. It sounded like the stereotypical wailing ghost he’d seen in horror movies, but more melancholic. He walked out of his room to see someone he hardly saw before.

“You alright, Jemima?”

The plague girl was sitting by herself at the top of the stairs, clearly not alright. Pat sat down next to her and she shifted away from him. She said nothing and quietened down. It had never really clicked how sorrowful having a child ghost at Button House was. Every ghost had a sad story - himself being only 39 when he died, and Thomas and Kitty being younger - but they were all relatively the same age when they died, and were all adults. There were no other children.

What could Pat possibly say or do? He wasn’t a child, and he imagined being surrounded by adults who found you scary for no apparent reason was pretty difficult. He remembered being a child and how he was an outcast. He was a “weird” kid, always being made to wear girls’ stuff when he hated it. In the strangest way, he sort of saw himself in Jemima. 

“Look, Jemima, I’m sorry if us adults make you uncomfortable… I know it was probably wrong of me to react the way I did when I first saw you, and it must’ve been overwhelming when we asked you to call the police-”

Pat paused. He felt arms around his waist. He was very surprised at first, but he hugged the girl back. He hadn’t felt a child in his arms for ages - it felt good. He patted Jemima’s head and started rocking her as he used to with his son.

“Ah, Patrick, there you are,” The Captain appeared, “we’ve been looking for you everywhere, it’s almost time for Food Club and it’s not like you to not be punctual- Ah, my apologies.”

Cap saw Pat was having a moment.

“No, no, you’re right I-”  
  
“Good Lord, is that Jemima?”  
  
“Well, yes, but she was feeling lonely so I went to comfort her…” Pat said, his voice quieting in guilt - he knew it was silly to feel guilty, but he couldn’t help it. “She’s a ghost like us, y’see…”

Cap gestured for the man to shush. Pat moved away and Cap kneeled down on the step below the girl to see her face.

“I was once in your position. All the men at the house left this old walrus out of celebrations. And that wasn’t the first time I’d been left out of things. There’s been many times I would cry on the stairs just like this. Of course, people didn’t let little boys cry, so I had to stop.”

The girl’s watery eyes met The Captain’s. “Point is, Jemima, I don’t think we’ve helped make death bearable for you, we have most likely done the very opposite. However, we will try and do our best to include you. Pat’s very good at that, I should know.” He gave the scout leader a fond smile. He turned back to Jemima. “Well, Food Club’s not going to do itself, so,” he held out his palm, “what do you say?”

The plague girl wiped her eyes and took The Captain’s hand. He and Pat grinned at each other. 

“Thank you.” Jemima said, smiling. She tightened her grip on Cap’s hand and reached for Pat’s. The three walked to the ballroom together, the girl in the middle of the two men. 

“Now, everyone,” Pat started, “for Food Club today, we have a very special guest. Now, little Jemima here would like to tell us about…” He squatted down and lent his ear to the girl. “Oh, honey! Alright, everyone, settle down and be quiet for Jem…”

The Captain stared lovingly at Pat as he repeatedly gave the girl thumbs up and supportive nods. Needless to say, from that day on, Jemima was a much more present ghost - especially around Pat and Cap.


End file.
